Chronos
by Creedog VanDrey
Summary: A postLexmas and a Godeerc the Mystic story. Lex takes drastic action after the death of his wife. Significant Chlark, but it will not be the main focus of the story.
1. Dense

Chronos: Dense  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville_  
Genre: Supernatural, Romance  
Rating: K+  
Language: English  
Summery: A post-Lexmas and a Godeerc the Mystic story. Lex takes drastic action after the death of his wife. Some Chlark, but it will not be the main focus of the story.  
Spoilers: Lexmas.

A/N: I wanted to get my story out there before anyone else could, so I wouldn't be influenced. Let me point out one thing though. This is not taking place in Lex's head. He did not go into a coma after the operation (a great way to write one of these; hint, hint), and this is not a continuation of his Last Temptation/Amor Fati. This takes place in Godeerc's world of the could-have-but-didn't-happen. By the way, for those not familiar with my work, Godeerc the Mystic, a character loosely based on my writing partner, Godeerc VanDrey, is a "mystic" (loose use of the definition) with the ability to traverse the quantum world. Usually, he takes the angelic role from _It's a Wonderful Life_ on a smaller scale, showing people glimpses of what life would be like given different choices. This story is a novel use of him. I ask my fans in particular to tell me what you think of what you think. This is probably have three chapters. We'll see. The first one's named "Dense." You'll see why.

* * *

Chapter 1: Dense 

_December 25, 2005  
12:25 AM_

Large snowflakes fluttered past Lex Luthor's hospital room window. This was not Lex's ideal way to celebrate Christmas, in a hospital room in Metropolis, recovering from potentially fatal surgery. Now, he watched as his mother's reflection in the window faded. Disappeared, just like she had eleven years ago.

Lillian watched as her son Lex's reflection faded from the window, along with the rest of the room, leaving her incorporeal body floating in the colorless void of timelessness.

She felt a presence. Or saw it. In this realm, the particularities of one's senses are blurred. Regardless, she knew it was there. She was surer of it than humans are of their own surroundings. They could only trust in what they see and felt, and occasionally, chose to believe in on faith alone. Here, wherever it was, or if it _was_ anywhere, (or whether it was actually a _somewhere_ to actually be at anyway), one's faith in existence is all one had.

The soul that joined her was benign. She knew it on faith. Speaking to it, she said, "Funny how they only listen to us when they're unconscious."

She turned to look at it, in the physically indescribable way that souls turn to look at things. She smiled.

He smiled back, "They think only people like John Edwards can do stuff like that. And he's never talked to a soul in his life."

"So, what's your story? It takes a special person to roam the perimeter of Hell."

"I'm a guide actually."

Lillian raised an eyebrow. "Alive?"

"Yep."

"That's a first."

The man was dressed in warm winter clothes. He put in hands in his overcoat. "Not really, because of the lack of linear time. And, there have been others. We don't visit often."

"'Often'?" she quipped.

"You're allowed to keep your earthly perceptions. The less fortunate are driven insane by instant celestial understanding." A hint of humor could be detected in his voice.

"So why visit me?"

"Your heart's in the right place, Lillian. It always has been and that's why you're here rather than one of the Big Places." He paused for effect, "Don't you find it ironic that Lex's glimpse ended when it did?"

"He woke up. I showed him all I could in the space of time that he was unconscious."

"There's no such thing as time. That means you can take as much of it as you want."

Lillian laughed, "That doesn't make sense."

"Well, there's so such thing rational logic either," he replied flatly.

"It makes my head hurt. I suppose you're going to tell me there's no such thing as pain, right?"

Lillian suddenly found wishing she had the ability to coil up in a fetal position and cover her ears, because she was suddenly subjected to the screams of billions of tormented souls.

"Pain He allows."

Groaning and picking herself up (a motion that occurred only in her imagination), she added, "And, apparently, irony."

"God creates certain things for humankind. He keeps stuff he enjoys for this realm, too. Like humor and irony."

Tiring of the metaphysical discussion, she directed him, "You were telling me about why Lex's dream ended. It had to; _he_'s still limited by linear time, even if I'm not."

"C.S. Lewis dreamt of the prototype for the entire Chronicles of Narnia series in a thirty-minute nap. Well, except for _The Magician's Nephew_," he added as an aside. "Point being, people dream remarkably fast."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm sorry to say you were wrong about Lex. You didn't let the tape play out."

_December 27, 2012 _

The skies of Smallville had never been grayer. It was overcast; stone-colored clouds carpeted the entire horizon. There was no way to know what time of day it was. And it was cold, bitterly cold: seventeen degrees, with the occasional burst of wind making it feel like eight.

A large crowd huddled around an ash wood coffin. It seemed far too large for the petite woman inside. Lex Luthor, dressed in his best black suit, black overcoat, black leather gloves, and a dark stocking cap, held tightly to his four-year-old son, who cried openly for his lost mother and shivered from the cold. Lex did not cry, but his face showed many emotions: sadness, despair, shock. Frigid tears burned his eyes and he blinked often because of it.

To his immediately left were Senator Jonathan and Martha Kent, in mourning dress. Sen. Kent was visibly sorrowful, but his aura still managed to portray authority and dignity. He stood like a senator; no longer simply a farmer. Martha wept softly, pressing her face into her husband's shoulder when she felt her sobs becoming too loud. She, likewise, was a senator's wife.

Beside them were Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan. Clark wore a black suit, an overcoat, and gloves, but no hat. His eyes watered and his face showed a single tear streak. Chloe held tightly to his arm for warmth, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. She wore heavy winter clothes over her black dress. She was shivering and crying, and wiped all her tears immediately, often on Clark's sleeve.

Standing to Clark's left was Lois Lane. She looked both sad and exhausted. Upon hearing of Lana's death, she made a promise to herself to attend the funeral. And to do it, she had finished her article on Toys for Tots half a day early, which was a mere six hours ago. In the last forty-eight hours, she slept at most six of them and her face showed it. She swore one day, she would kill Editor-in-Chief Paulette Kahn.

To Lex's right was Nell Potter and her husband, Dean. She seemed catatonic, and her husband held her. Her mind reeled of a single thought: that her worst fear had come true. Her sister Laura, petite little Laura, had had a difficult pregnancy with Lana. Her body was not made to sustain the rigors of pregnancy. Luckily, her first child was a girl, a girl who was born only five days early, but was still considered a borderline low birth weight baby. That had been Laura's saving grace.

Potters descendents, especially the smaller-framed ones, were not physically adapted to breed with the six-foot Luthors without consequences. Her newest grandniece, Lillian "Lily" Lana Luthor, was healthy… and compared with her mother at birth, heavy. Like her big brother was. According to the height-weight charts, the little guy could expect to be at least five-ten by the age of sixteen. _But love conquers all, right?_

Nell cursed her bitter thoughts.

Justice Abigail Ross and Pete Ross were also in attendance. The elder Ross was solemn, presenting dignity that matched Sen. Kent's. Pete, on the other hand, was visibly shaken.

Even the minister at the head of the coffin was unable to recite the Twenty-third Psalm without occasional sighs of grief.

The turn-out was unheard of. A dense crowd of more than a hundred were packed around that grave in the Smallville Cemetery.

_December 30, 2012 _

Clark Kent sat at his small desk inside the twelfth floor of the _Daily Planet_ building in Metropolis. There was a framed picture on his desk, him and four of his best friends in the summer of 2006 at Crater Lake in Smallville. In it, Clark was grinning ear to ear, wearing baggy red swim trunks and a light blue muscle shirt. He had one arm wrapped around a smiling Chloe, in a modest navy blue tankini, and the other around Pete (who had _finally_ been able to visit) in dark green trunks. Lois, wearing a shiny gold two-piece, stood between the trio and Lana, who was in her black and yellow racing suit.

That was after Clark and Lana had broken up. It was a hard breakup, but it seemed inevitable. They were being pulled apart. Lana harbored jealously about him and Chloe. Her womanly intuition had caught on to Clark and Chloe sharing a big secret. There was, of course, nothing beyond platonic going on between them, but it was a wedge nonetheless. Clark's sudden celibacy after being shot and briefly dying didn't help matters. And he saw that she was starting to become uncomfortable around Lex.

The post-surgery Lex had quit the senatorial race and then LuthorCorp, giving up a great deal of money that Lionel managed to siphon away from his son with some dubious business tactics. Lex managed to retain ownership of the Talon, and co-managed it with Martha Kent until he found a job in Granville as a middle manager with a medical supplies company that catered to Wayne Enterprises, one of LuthorCorp's main rivals. Over the course of a year, much of the animosity between Lex and Clark, not to mention the Kents, had dissolved. In fact, Pete even began to warm up to Lex, caused in no small part because of the free business advice Lex offered that put Pete on the favorites list of both the dean of law and the dean of business at Washburn University. Lex also became a community figure. He took the Granville Habitat for Humanity to new level in 2007. Some of his policies were adopted by the Smallville chapter. He streamlined the Lowell Country unemployment agency, and brought the unemployment level below three percent. He personally found foster parents or adoptive parents for more than a hundred orphans in Eastern Kansas.

In actuality, it wasn't Clark who caught onto the attraction between Lex and Lana. It was Chloe who dropped subtle hints at him that something might be going on between them. She finally told him flat out after the breakup. To Clark, it was reminiscent of her keeping his secret to herself for months before the incident in the Arctic. He knew that Lex had at some point developed a crush on Lana, but hadn't thought much of it. Lex had always been one of his biggest supporters in his relationship with Lana. He didn't think much more of it than Chloe's crush on him. Of course, _that_ had been a mistake, a mistake which became history repeating itself. This he realized in hindsight. It was always in hindsight for Clark. He often felt denser than lead.

Clark's eidetic memory progressed to complete total recall by the time he was twenty-one. Though he could go back and analyze each gesture, he still didn't see how he could have realized the situation. All the alien powers in the world couldn't replace a woman's intuition, it seemed.

Clark took the picture and laid it face down. He couldn't deal with seeing her face right now. He had learned to live without her love, but she was still a good friend. It had been a hard road to friendship again, but both swore to savage it. Eventually, they both moved on from the relationship. Lana began to see Lex, platonically at first, but it soon grew to more. Clark briefly dated a girl named Lori he met at school, but the relationship ended when Clark started hastily talking marriage after Lex and Lana announced their engagement after a five-month courtship. He almost didn't agree to be the best man three months later. But his humorous "Third Time's the Charm" speech was the highlight of the reception, even though he later found out his figure was off because of a few legal technicalities. Chloe's being his "date" to the wedding was the last semblance of a date he'd had in years. Ironically, it was Chloe's constant presence with him, and his own self-imposed shyness, that kept him single. He never approached women; they rarely approached him because of the cute blond by his side.

Clark moved the picture from his desk into a drawer. He paused to collect his composure. A single tear stained his assignment about S.T.A.R. Labs. Clark's recent promotion to investigative reporter had not been controversial. It was no secret that he had been Chloe Sullivan's protégé of sorts even before his hiring at the _Planet_, and he definitely shown a decent portion of the potential that Chloe had. And since Chloe was currently on an eighteen-month sabbatical (reluctantly extended from a twelve-month sabbatical by Chloe and Clark's direct superior, Perry White) to write her book about LuthorCorp, Clark was challenged to fill her shoes. And while Clark still didn't compare to Chloe, he was deemed talented enough to be given what would have been her assignments.

"Hey, Smallville, you're not napping on the job are you?" came Lois's ever-perky voice.

Lois had finally caught Chloe's investigative curiosity… almost. She was not cut out for investigative reporting, or at least not yet. Her biggest problem was with deadlines. Consequently, she currently worked on the infamous eighth floor, where the _Planet_'s Sunday magazine, the _Element_, was published. She wrote an informal, sarcastic, and often cynical or risqué column about her love-hate relationship with the big city.

Clark looked up at her with his watery eyes, and Lois turned immediately apologetic. She cursed. "Sorry, Clark. I'm not getting enough sleep and it's rendering me tactless."

Clark gave no reply.

Lois relented, "_More_ tactless, yes." She forced a smile, which Clark returned.

She plopped herself in the chair that she stole from an occupied desk, relating to him, "You know humor's my defense mechanism. Like undue guilt for not saving the world single-handedly is yours." She paused, realizing her repeated mistake, "_Sorry!_ But, really, Clark, that's why the big cities have superheroes. The White Knight here. The Batman in Gotham. A whole bunch in New York, and it still isn't fixed!"

Clark smiled. "It's okay, Lois. You've got the right idea. How're things in Neverland?"

The nickname for the eighth floor had a double meaning. Firstly, it represented the attitudes of most of the employees there: one reminiscent of the carefree Lost Boys. And "never" was often when the articles seemed to be turned in. Since Saturday nights were crunch time, it had been years since Lois had been awake before three in the afternoon on a Sunday. It was okay; she wasn't that religious anyway. The lack of free time on weekends had also caused her hair to darken from caramel-colored to a deep mahogany. She never seemed to have time anymore to get it lightened.

"We're actually very busy," she said.

"On a Friday? Seems a little early for you guys to be worrying about a magazine due out on Sunday."

She admitted, "…with chair ball. I tell ya, Eileen has really lost her advantage. Before she could move faster on a rolling chair than Lance Armstrong on a bicycle," Lois commented on the head editor of the _Element_. Sometimes, Clark didn't understand how their rival magazine, the _Star_'s _Galaxy_ had consistently lower ratings, considering the stronger work ethic. Maybe it was _because_ of the work ethic. You weren't going to find a satirical two-part article about the coming (then passing) Mayan Doomsday in anything owned by the _Star_. Clark was usually too busy to ponder the popularity gap, even with his abilities. He had destroyed too many keyboards by training to gain an advantage by attempting to type in super-speed. That and super-strength were not a good combination. Even he had to work the old-fashioned way.

"So, farmboy, got lunch plans?"

"Chloe and I are getting soup and sandwiches at Millar's. You're welcome to join us."

"Thanks, but I got plans. I'm meeting with a source."

"A source? Since when you do you have sources?"

"Since one of the personal trainers of one of the gyms I reviewed asked me out. You should see this guy. He's got muscles like you did when you were eighteen."

Clark smiled to himself. His musculature was as toned as ever, but well hidden in the dull suits he wore to work. Truth be told, he looked younger than his twenty-six years, and he intentionally wore suit that were slightly too big to give him a modest and amateur appearance, rather than that of a Greek god, which he guessed must be the typical physique of Kryptonians with their speed-of-light metabolism.

On the other side of the room, Chloe Sullivan uncomfortably watched her cousin and best friend talk happily. It hurt for several reasons. One, there was that crush that still refused to go away even after… _God, has it really been thirteen years? Half my life?_ Plus, only three days had passed after the funeral of one of their closest friends. With a regained composure and attempted cheery smile, she strolled up to Clark's desk.

Clark flashed Chloe the two-thousand watt smile that he reserved specially for her. It made Chloe's stomach lurch. For one, it instantly broke down any barriers she created to keep her feelings submerged. It was also completely unreadable. He smiled at her like that at the Spring Formal, right before the world's closest almost-kiss (tied with Mulder and Scully's in _The X-Files_ movie, Chloe's favorite). Yet he greeted her with that smile even back when he was passionately devoted to Lana.

So, she smiled sweetly, like always, "Hey, Clark! Hi, Lois!" Chloe had no reason to be jealous. She and Clark had the strongest friendship of anyone in their group. The friendship between Clark and Lois, on the other hand, was comparable to a potentially explosive sibling rivalry. He and Lana… well, they'd never been able to get that close after the breakup. She and Lana… they'd been like sisters before, but being roommates taught them to keep their distance; they'd never lived together again after freshman year. Plus, Chloe and Clark shared his secret. As did Pete, but he resided in Topeka, pursuing a career in corporate law. Clark and Chloe, on the other hand, worked side-by-side for years. It was a Mulder and Scully-like relationship. Even more so, when they investigated the "weird" stories, which Clark was a magnet for. _Well, Mulder and Scully did fall in love, didn't they?_ The thought both frightened and gave hope to Chloe.

"Hey, girl, what's up?" her cousin asked with enthusiasm.

Chloe was at a loss for an answer. She was definitely not "up." Lana died five days ago, and all that she could think about was how she was afraid—irrationally—that her cousin would steal the heart of a man that Chloe knew Lois had less than zero interest in.

"Not much, just hungry." That's when she noticed that the picture was missing from his desk. She did her best not to lose it right them. Clark was at her side so quickly, Chloe could have swore he'd use his super-speed. Lois soon joined him.

"It's okay, Chloe," he said, "I just put the picture in my desk. I couldn't bear look at it right now. I miss her, too."

Chloe's face reddened with shame upon realizing her companions felt the same. Of course Lois and her untimely sense of humor was the reason they looked so high-spirited in light of Lana's death. They ought to be doing anything to avoid breaking down with grief like she was doing right now.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. Clark, ready to go to lunch? Chicken noodle's the soup de jour. Lois, you're welcome to join us."

Lois gave Chloe the smile she always gave her cousin when she suspected Chloe was suppressing her feelings for Clark. She had no doubts that Chloe secretly hoped she would say no. One look at the picture now in Clark's middle drawer told Lois immediately that her cousin still felt for Clark. The way she was smiling as she rested her head on Clark's chest in that photograph was blatantly obvious. And that smile was identical to those that Chloe gave to Clark when she thought no one was looking. Clark must be denser than lead to not see that on his desk every day.

"No can do, cuz, I've got a source." With that, she grabbed her purse, and tactfully asked, "You gonna be okay?"

"I told you. I'm fine." She smiled, and the words slipped out her mouth, "I've got Clark. Really, I'm fine."

"Well, between Clark and your white knight protector, aren't you always? Oh, and, Clark, watch out; Chloe's super-bodyguard seems rather attached to her. Wouldn't want to make him jealous."

Clark and Chloe shared a smirk.

"So, Clark…" Chloe baited between sips of her steaming bowl of chicken noodle, "_aren't_ you afraid of making my little bodyguard in white jealous?"

Clark with fake modesty, replied, "No, we definitely have an understanding. Plus, we're buds now. I mean, since you've be gone, I've gotten almost every exclusive with him." They both laughed. "And, uh, 'little bodyguard'?" he teased, "He's like a foot taller than you."

"But really, Clark," Chloe started, leaning in and lowering her voice, "you really ought to look a brighter color scheme. The skintight white jumpsuit with the black House of El symbol on your chest _is_ sexy, but not as photogenic as it could be. You wore more color back in Smallville."

Clark asked in total disregard of her comments, "So, I owe you lunch, right?"

"Clark, you owe me nine lunches for all the times you've zipped out of the restaurant to foil bank robberies."

Sighing, he joked, "Maybe I can get a two-for-one deal if we do dinner instead."

Chloe looked up with a blank face, letting the comment simmer, and allowing him to squirm a bit, before half-humorously replying, "Sure. Hell, take me to _La Fleur Bleu_, and we'll call it even." She smiled triumphantly.

Clark was speechless. However, he had no time to process the conversation as he suddenly jerked his head to the side, as if to hear better, and adopted a concern expression. He looked up at Chloe with an apologetic gesture.

Chloe commented knowingly, "Go on. World's not gonna save itself."

Standing up, he leaned in and said, "This makes ten."

"Go!"

Clark walked to the restroom, and Chloe pretended not to notice the sudden rush of air in the room or the nearly invisible white blur.

Perry White happened to be passing by Clark's desk when he returned from lunch. "Any chance you caught our favorite man in white saving someone while on break?"

"I followed some police cars to the scene of a convenience store robbery. He was gone by the time I arrived."

Perry looked disappointed, "Eh, can't get 'im every day, champ. It's not your fault. Go ahead and write me fifty words on it. How's the S.T.A.R. assignment coming?"

"Perry, I got that today. I got nothing. I'll give you an update on my progress before I leave."

"Don't disappoint me, Kent."

Clark's phone rang as Perry walked away. "Clark Kent, _Daily Planet_."

"Hey, Clark," came Chloe's voice.

"Hi, Chloe. Sorry for ditching you. You were gone by the time I got back."

"My publisher called about the premiere party tomorrow night. I had to attend to some last minute details. Which reminds me, I need an escort. Make ya a deal. Do this for me and I'll forgive today's lunch."

"Deal. You don't even need to ask." Clark picked up his assignment, and related, "I got do a report on S.T.A.R labs. Any suggestions?"

"Ask for Marie Battle in R&D. She's a great place to start."

Dropping the paper, he said, "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Well, I don't like to brag… Bye, Clark."

"Bye, Chloe."

_Luthor Mansion  
Smallville, Kansas_

Lex entered the office chamber of the Luthor mansion in Smallville. Lionel Luthor was sitting at Lex's old desk, bathed in an eerie blue light. He couldn't have looked more malicious if the light were red.

Lionel looked up from the computer. "Well, Lex, it seems after seven years of disowning me, you suddenly can't stop paying me frequent visits."

With a stern face, Lex stated flatly, "Dad, you had the ability to save my wife… your daughter-in-law." With a gradually rising temper, he continued, "I don't whether this is some sick continuation of your Machiavellian training, …or whether it's some morbid retaliation for Mom's death—" Lionel leapt to his feet, but Lex continued, "…or whether you just like medical procedures that have a much lower rate of success…"

"Lex!" Lionel hissed through closed teeth.

"…but you're right."

Lionel paused.

"The perverted way that you raised me, if you can call it raising me, taught me that I will only succeed in environments that I have full control over."

"Why are you telling me this, Lex?"

"I want to come back to LuthorCorp."

* * *

A/N: The cliffhanger was just too good to not use. Looks like this will be a few chapters. I have immense inspiration for this, so you can expect a new chapter shortly. Right now, I'm fighting a sinus infection and need some rest. 

(Wide-Eyed Sonriso) – Holy crape myrtles! Long-hair Chloe is hot!


	2. Blush

Chronos: Blush  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville_  
Genre: Supernatural, Romance  
Rating: K+  
Language: English  
Summery: A post-Lexmas and a Godeerc the Mystic story. Lex falls under his father's thumb once again. Chloe attends her book release party.  
Spoilers: Increasingly vague for Lexmas.

A/N: This is an experiment in the sense I'm not sure where the story's going yet. I'm doing more of my "letting the story write itself" writing. I wanted to name this fic "Exposé" (with or without the accent), but then it would have been confused with "Exposed," which is one of the _last_ episodes I want you to remember.

* * *

Chapter 2: Blush 

_December 31, 2012 _

"You're not wearing black," Lois told her cousin, pulling the full length black gown from the blond woman's hands and throwing it on the bed of her apartment bedroom. "You a reds person and you know it." She went to closet and started searching through Chloe's dresses.

"We're going to skip over this lovely pink thing," Lois commented next as she threw a dark pink dress onto the bed. "Isn't that thing that you went to the Spring Formal with Clark in?" she added.

"Yeah…" Chloe said, finally getting a word in.

"Well, it's nice, but not for tonight… ooh, this one is _intriguing_," she commented on an eclectic lavender dress with bright trim, "but you're not wearing it either." It joined the other dresses on the bed. "Ooh, I am loving this," Lois almost squealed, pulling out a full-length, plum-colored dress with a diagonal strap. "What do you think?"

"It looks great, Lois," Chloe said, trying to hide her annoyance.

Catching this, she snapped, "Hey, squirt, you asked me to help you out."

Chloe sighed, and apologized, "Sorry. I think that would be excellent for tonight. Really. I'm just… nervous."

"Well, I for one am very proud for you for finally having to nerve to move things forward with Clark. He's been single for ages. Course, who's gonna approach him when there's a red-hot sexy blond always at his side?" Lois smiled as she held the dress to Chloe's body for her own approval. She didn't notice Chloe's sarcastic smirk in response to her comment.

"Must you assume it's about Clark and not, you know, having a book published?"

Quick to reply, Lois asked, "Mustn't I? Plus, Chloe, you've put out other books."

"Nothing _near_ this prestigious."

"Chloe, face it; it's about boy. C'mere." Lois hugged her cousin. "I know how crazy you are about this mild-mannered reporter." While holding Chloe's shoulders, she continued, "I don't understand it, since you've got a hunky superhero stalking you."

"Hey, he's saved your life a time or two."

"Well, next time he pulls a knight in shining armor on me, I'll bat an eye, okay? Enough about me. Now, we've got work to do on _you_. Can't disappoint your date."

"He's more like an escort."

Tilting her head, Lois replied, "One, liar. Two, I could tell you stories about what I've done with some of my 'escorts.' Three, 'escort' has many meanings." Lois wiggled her eyebrows.

"Alright, alright, how 'bout figure out what we're gonna do with my hair. I have an appointment at three."

"That's my girl."

_LuthorCorp__ Mansion  
Smallville__, Kansas_

Lionel Luthor studied his son for several antagonizing moments. "So, let me get this straight, Lex. You drop the senatorial race against my wishes. Then, you emancipate yourself from the family. You try to live the middle class lifestyle with two kids and a minivan, working for LuthorCorp's competitors. And, now, you come back here, with your tail between your legs, practically falling to your knees, and begging for a job, as if all could be forgiven? What do you want me to say to you, Lex?"

"I want you to tell me what a coward I am, Dad. I want you to tell me 'I told you so.' I want you to tell me I don't deserve to polish your shoes after what I've done. I want you to tell me I've betrayed you; insert appropriate literary allusion here. I want you to tell me that I made the biggest mistake of my life seven years ago by not following your training. I want you to tell me that you knew all along that great power and abundant wealth is the only way I'll survive in this world. I want you to tell me that LuthorCorp needs me back."

Lionel leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers, "Well, son, I'm afraid you're wrong on the last count. LuthorCorp is thriving."

"So that's why you've set up camp in Smallville? C'mon, Dad, you know your true home is the penthouse in Metropolis. Ask any of your neighbors, and they'll tell you that you have the LuthorCorp helicopter fly in three times a week. My guess is that you can't stand being in this corn-infested town for more than two days at a time. You've probably hired some of the best chefs in the tri-state area to cook foods for you with names that the locals can't even pronounce."

"Lex, I'm a very busy man. Do you have a proposition for me, or not?"

Lex strode forward and laid his hands on his father's desk, saying, "Give me back Smallville, Dad. The only ties that you have here is this castle. I think you're getting so tired in your old age that you don't want to go through the trouble of moving the place stone by stone again, even if you do have the money and the gall to do it. Don't tell me you'd prefer to see the cornfields of rural Kansas to your first-rate cityscape of Metropolis when you look out the window. Clark tells me you gave up on the Kawatche caves years ago. I figure that it did too many things to too many scientists, and you finally figured, 'Hey, it's not worth the risk anymore.'"

"Well, Lex, it seems some things never change. You still have an outrageously overactive imagination. And you still haven't convinced me why I should put you back in charge of the Smallville fertilizer plants."

"Because, Dad, you know I'm capable, you just don't want to admit it. Plus, Chloe Sullivan is releasing a book about LuthorCorp on the first of the year. And you're gonna want my help."

"I'm very aware of the publishing of Miss Sullivan's book, Lex. I've purchased several copies of it to give to my top executives. We want to correct any mistakes we've made in the past."

"Or cover them up. Besides, Dad, I think you'll be surprised when you find out how in-depth Chloe's book is. Rumor has it she had an inside source."

Lionel's composure changed. "Lex, why would even admit that to me if you're trying to get a job at LuthorCorp?"

"Dad, frankly, I'm terrified of the outcome of any locking of horns between you and Chloe Sullivan. Dad, I want to take responsibility for my actions. Allow _me_ to deal with Chloe Sullivan, and give me the resources to do it. And then stay out of it, Dad. I'm not a fan of your tactics."

Lionel paused briefly, "Lex, I will allow you to manage the Smallville plants on a trial basis. I expect exceptional results. And you had better impress me with your _dealings_ with Miss Sullivan."

"Dad, I'd say I won't disappoint you, but let's face it; we both know you're very hard to impress."

"Lex, a man with that trait could rule the world."

_December 31, 2012  
9:00 PM_

The walkway outside the Remy-DeGough Reception Hall in Metropolis looked like a small awards show. A decent-sized group of photographers waited behind ropes along a red carpet. The publicity was no surprise given that the _Daily Planet_ was hosting the awards show, and the guest list included _Planet_ Editor-in-Chief Julia Kahn, Senator Jonathan Kent, Kansas Supreme Court Judge Abigail Ross, and former billionaire Lex Luthor, whose disappearance from the public eye was sorely missed. His presence was especially exciting given that the book to be released was an in-depth analysis of his father's multibillion dollar company. Metropolis's superhero in white might even show up, given his relationship with the woman of the hour.

The first limousine pulled up. From inside, Chloe Sullivan looked out the window, dressed in her purple gown and with her makeup professionally done and hair in an elaborate bun. She turned to her escort and friend, saying, "You think I was a celebrity or something, Clark."

Clark was dressed in a ridiculously expensive, custom-tailored tuxedo; it had been a gift from Lex before his hasty departure from LuthorCorp, and Clark secretly enjoyed wearing it every chance he got. He responded to Chloe, "Hey, it's not everyday someone digs up dirt on LuthorCorp and lives to tell about it."

"Don't even joke about that. Let's go." Chloe brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face and exited the car and tried to smile as much as possible as she was bombarded with dozens of cameras flashes.

"Miss Sullivan, is everything in your book true?" a voice called out from the crowd.

"Every word," she called back, unsure of the exact source of the voice. She briefly started to feel overwhelmed, but it passed as Clark came up and led her forward with his hand on her back.

"Miss Sullivan," another reporter cried out, "can you tell us anything about this mysterious inside source?"

Chloe gave him a sympathetic smile, "Sorry, I have to protect my sources. But you have my word he's 100 reliable."

"Is it true that you have a romantic relationship with the mysterious unnamed superhero in white?"

Chloe and Clark exchanged glances, before Chloe asked him, "What? Who are you?"

"Alex Harris, _The Inquisitor_."

Chloe smiled knowingly. _The celebrity gossip tabloid_. "I'm afraid not. He's a very private person."

"And who's the handsome young man with you tonight, Miss Sullivan?" a disembodied female voice asked.

Chloe replied, showing off Clark a bit, even stooping a tad to emphasize his height, "This is my friend and colleague Clark Kent. He works for the _Daily Planet._"

Another voice piped up, " Kent, eh? Any relation to Senator Kent?"

Clark smiled, replying, "Uh, yeah, he's my dad."

Chloe pulled Clark down to her. "Any chance you could super-speed us in?"

Clark winked, and briskly walked the two of them into the hall, ignoring the protest of questions. He turned himself and Chloe around so that they could flash a smile just in time to see his parents get out of their government vehicle. His mother had learned to wave like a first lady, he noticed.

_9:34 PM _

Chloe turned to Clark at the head table, noting the two empty chairs, one with a black bow tied around the back. "You seen Lex?"

Clark replied, "No. Maybe he's not ready to party just yet."

Chloe didn't have a chance to reply, because the emcee was making an announcement and requesting a speech from her, so she gave Clark a quick squeeze on the hand and walked onto the platform. She suddenly felt very small as she stood in front of a large podium on a large stage in front of an enormous screen.

Chloe spoke into the microphone, "They tell me that there's someone competent working the projector, so hopefully, in a few seconds you'll see the cover of my book, and it won't be up-side-down or anything. Or my senior portrait. Or something from my eighteenth birthday party." She got mild laughter for that (especially from Clark) as the cover art of her book appeared on the screen behind her. The jacket was a deep scarlet red, with the LuthorCorp logo surrounded by descending dollar bills on top of a faint radar screen pattern. The title, in bold goldenrod lettering was _The Underground Monopoly: The Tactics that Keep LuthorCorp under the Radar_. Wild applause followed.

"Thank you, thank you. The book will be released in…"she looks at her watch, "…seventy-nine minutes, and you'll be able to judge for yourself. Really, this book has been a huge part of my life for the last year and a half, and I appreciate this magnanimous gesture. Thank you all for attending. But before we get too rowdy, because this is a New Year's party after all." She was overpowered by cheering. "Maybe we shouldn't have opened the champagne so early." The room roared with laughter. "Please, this is important…" she pleaded. When the crowd quieted down, she continued, "As some of you may have heard, a very dear friend of mine passed away last week."

With that, the next slide appeared: a beautiful photo of Lana Lang with the words, "Lana Elizabeth Lang-Luthor, Loving Wife, Loving Mother, Loving Friend. 11/12/1986-12/24/2012"

"It's unfortunate that her husband could not be here tonight, but I think we can all forgive him." Chloe suddenly covered her face, and found Clark by her side instantly. She pushed him away. She returned to the mic and said, "I'm a magnet for tall, dark men with hero complexes." There was heavy, uncomfortably laughter that followed.

"I'm not going to lie to you; it hurts to lose a friend. But that being said, Lana was one of the most cheerful people I knew, and it would be a disgrace to her name if we let a little thing like her death ruin our night. I propose, in honor of the life she lived, we fully enjoy ourselves tonight, as she would have most certainly done." She put on a smile and watched as every person in the room stood up and raised their glasses. She looked for Clark to see he'd brought the two of them their champagne glasses. She wondered if he was using his powers to move so quickly. She took a glass and raised it. A single tear flowed down her cheek, and over her sad smile.

_10:59 PM _

The screen behind the platform showed a live feed of the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball about to drop. Since Metropolis was in Central Time Zone, _The Underground Monopoly_ was being released at 11:00 PM so that cities like New York, Boston, and Gotham would be able to release at midnight. It was for that reason that these Kansans decided to celebrate their New Year's an hour early.

"Ten… nine… eight…" the crowd recited in unison.

Chloe turned to grab her glass, as did Clark, though neither was able to catch the other's eye.

"… five... four… three… two… one! Happy New Year!"

Chloe cheered and turned to Clark to wish him a happy new year, only to find him gazing at her. As Clark's face descended toward hers, her vision tunneled on Clark's eyes, blurring her surroundings and even the background noise. With nary a second to process this, she smiled briefly before she found herself lip-locked with Clark. She laid her hand on his cheek and allowed him to continue. Her other hand, still holding a champagne glass, came to rest on his hip.

Several seconds later, they both broke the kiss, realizing that both had failed to do so. Oblivious to the outside world, they clinked their glasses together and sipped the champagne. Chloe then happened to notice that the entire table was staring at her and Clark, since they had probably finished any kissing long before she and Clark had. Lois gave her a knowing look as she stood next to the tall, tanned, muscular personal trainer that she brought as her date. His lips were smeared by some of Lois's lipstick. She also noted that the Kents and her father were giving her amused but approving looks. Pink-faced, she commented to Clark, "I didn't realize we'd made such a spectacle of ourselves."

"Sorry," he meekly apologized.

Chloe's face dropped, and she grabbed the lapels of his jacket, and told him quite directly, " Clark, do me a favor… and never apologize ever again about kissing me." She followed it up with a stern expression. Refusing to break eye contact and gaze burning into his eyes, she whispered, "_Ever again_, okay?"

He gave her a small, knowing smile, and nodded, "Okay." It took every last ounce of his willpower to prevent his heat vision from activating.

_January 1, 2013  
1:13 PM _

Chloe opened her apartment door to find Lois. "Hey," Lois greeted Chloe, peeking in, " Clark's not here, is he?"

Chloe's eyes widened, "God, no. We don't all work on the Lois Lane timetable of dating."

"Just checking." Entering, she looked hard at her cousin, both her hand behind her back. "You and Clark are on _some_ timetable, right?"

Chloe was at a loss for words for a moment. "Yeah, I think so. You can't be subtle with Clark, and I did make myself clear. He didn't seem to disagree." Chloe tried to see what was behind her cousin's back, and said, distracted, "Okay, c'mon, what's behind your back?"

"Well…" Lois pulled out the Sunday _Daily Planet_. "I've got great news! Look!" She handled Chloe an article detailing the release of her book.

"Lois, thanks, but I've already read this. I obviously get the _Planet_ and some of us wake up before noon. I know my book is popular, and yes, happy!" She smiled gleefully as proof.

"Oh," Lois paused before pulling something else from behind her back, the _Inquisitor_.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Really interesting article on page 4."

Chloe snatched the paper and flipped to the fourth page, before a look of utter terror. She matched eyes with Lois before reading the headline, "'Senator's Son Courts Author of LuthorCorp Exposé.'" In the middle of the paper article was a photo of her and Clark kissing.

Lois looked apologetic, "Oh, whoops, I thought you'd be happy. You know, proof of your dream night come true?"

"Lois, have you read the article? It doesn't mention that Clark works at the _Planet_. It's a commentary likening Clark to some Don Juan politician's son sweeping some B-list celebrity writer off her feet."

"Kind of has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Lois commented with a smirk, which was returned with an exasperated look.

The phone ringing interrupted the conversation.

"Hello?" Chloe answered before getting over her mood, which she then proceeded to do after listening to the caller's reply. "Hi, Clark. No, I'm fine. It's just—" she stopped short, then giggled, and finally replied, "Yeah, sure, I'm free for lunch. Uh-huh, Al's sounds good." Lois gave her a thumbs-up, which Chloe waved away. "Yeah?" she redirected her attention to something being said, and then blushed profusely, and quickly answered, "Yeah, me too. Bye." She quickly hung up and resisted turning around.

"Whoo-hoo, what was that about? 'Me too'? Huh?" Lois shook her hips for effect.

"Not in a million years, Lois."

Lois perked up, teasing, "That bad, huh?"

Chloe uncomfortably held her arm, her face remaining red as ever. She ran her hands through her long, blond hair, exchanging glances with her cousin, both smiling ear to ear.

_1:49 PM _

Clark jumped up to meet her when she arrived at the hamburger restaurant. The two awkwardly exchanged glances before hugging. Clark laid a quick kiss on her forehead before pulling out her chair for her.

He then sat himself down, struggling for a moment to find words, then saying, "Congrats on your book. You're the talk of the _Planet_."

"Thanks, Clark. They ready to have me back, yet?"

"Yeah, Perry doesn't think he can wait until next Monday. He wants you on the S.T.A.R. report right now. He's not impressed by my work."

"I thought I trained you better. Didn't you use my source?"

"She doesn't work there anymore. She's mysteriously disappeared; should we be surprised? I've tried other avenues, and I am making progress, just not as fast as you could of. You're amazing."

Chloe's cheeks reddened again, and it was starting to get on her nerves. "Thanks, Clark. Perry will just have to wait."

Clark suddenly seemed reluctant to continue, "Chloe, we need to talk about last night." Chloe's face dropped, and Clark suddenly leaned forward and grabbed her hand, cradling it under his chin before continuing, "No, no, no, don't give that look, 'cause it's not like that. Chloe, I want to try this. I've screwed things up in the past, but I'm gonna really try to treat you right this time. I promise." He gave her puppy dog eyes.

He was rewarded with the most joyous smile he'd seen from Chloe in years and a peck on the lips. The moment didn't last, because that's when Clark looked to the left and watched Lex Luthor walk in the door. He caught Lex's eye and waved. He dropped Chloe's hand, which he found himself holding under the table.

"Well, fancy meeting you two here," Lex stated amicably as he approached their table. "Hey, Chloe, listen, I'm really sorry for missing your premiere last night, but something big came up, and I was actually hoping to run into you today. Mind if I sit for a second? I promise to leave you two _lovebirds_ alone afterwards," he jested.

Clark suddenly looked perplexed, and asked, "Lex, how'd you find out about…"

It was then Lex's turn to look perplexed. He turned to Chloe and asked, "Wait a second, did the _Inquisitor_ get a story right for once?"

Chloe lowered her head, a self-conscious smile appearing on her face. Clark, lost, asked, "The _Inquisitor_? What?"

Lex pulled out a copy of the day's _Inquisitor_ to show Clark. "Well, anyway, congratulations, you two. I figured it was just you two following New Year's tradition, but I guess I was delightfully wrong. Oh, and Chloe, I managed to pick up a copy of your bestseller. I've only gotten through the first few chapters, but I must say it is excellent work. I'm not surprised."

"Well, thank you, Lex. But you didn't have to come all the way to Metropolis just to apologize for missing my premiere. I understand if…" she cut herself off, not wanting to say the words.

Clark cringed after finishing the article, "Oh, man, I'm sorry, Chloe. I didn't realize there was a photographer in the room. Well, yeah, I did, but… I hope this doesn't hurt my dad's image. Or your reputation."

Chloe half-smiled, comforting him, "Oh, I'll be fine…"

Lex smiled, "And, Clark, your father's a good man. One article about his son's love life with a respectable writer isn't exactly a scandal." Lex sighed and gravely continued, "Chloe, there was another reason why I missed the premiere. I've accepted a job heading the Smallville LuthorCorp plants again."

"What?" Clark said, aghast. "But, Lex, why would you…"

Lex gritted his teeth, "It was hard decision to make. If I had never emancipated myself from my father, I would have had the resources to save Lana."

"Lex, if you hadn't emancipated yourself from your father, what's to say you would have ever married Lana? Lex, you were able to do so much good after you pulled yourself out of your father's shadow. For goodness sake, you just won the Kansas Humanitarian Award," Clark pointed out.

"I'm friends with the senator. Clark, don't you remember? In all this good-doing, I stole Lana from you."

Chloe suddenly felt herself become uncomfortable. Oblivious, Clark replied, "Yes, I loved Lana, but so did you. And while at the time I thought it would last forever, now I'm not so sure. There are better people in the world for me." Chloe turned pink.

"Did I, Clark? Did I really become a better person? Sure, I lived the American dream: a wife, two kids, a minivan, and some successful volunteer projects. Don't get me wrong, I loved Lana all with all my heart, and I love my kids as much as ever. But what kind of husband was I if I couldn't save my wife from the damage of bearing _my_ two children? Alex and Lily need a nanny because their mother is gone. The only way I could afford that is to let my father pay for it."

Chloe was exasperated, "Whoa, you're letting your father pay for a nanny for your kids? Does he get to pick her out, too?"

"What other choice did I have?"

"Well, what about day care?" Chloe remarked. "And, Lex, have you forgotten that the book I just published is an exposé on some of the questionable business tactics of LuthorCorp? I have no doubt your father is going to read the book. He's not an idiot, Lex; he's gonna suspect you're my inside source."

"He knows. I admitted it to him. I told him I'd deal with it."

Clark scooted forward and adopted a protective stance around Chloe, who boldly asked, "Are you _threatening_ me?"

Lex remained calm, "No, Chloe. I'm not my father. In fact, I'm going to tell you what I have in mind. I'm not going to send out thugs that can't be traced back to me to harass you. And I'm not going to cause an unexplainable fire at the publishing company. I don't work like that, Chloe. I'm doing this in a civilized manner. I've hired Marshall Heath from the _Metropolis Star_ to write a rebuttal to your book. I know this is inevitably going to drive a wedge between us, and probably between me and a lot of people, but I've had to make some hard decisions lately, and people are going to get caught in the crossfire. And I'm sorry it had to work out like this. I don't like it any more than you do."

Clark sighed, and told his friend, "Lex, you're going down a dangerous path."

"Clark, I appreciate your concern, but you have to let me fight my own battles. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm sure you to would like to get back to your lunch date." With that, he left the restaurant without another word.

Clark turned to wrap his arms around Chloe, telling her, "I'm sorry, Chloe."

"No, Clark, Lex is making some bad decisions. We did what friends are supposed to do. Let's just hope he doesn't get himself in too deep." Chloe turned to look up at him, "You know, this doesn't feel that bad." With that, she reached up and held the arms around her neck.

Clark casually brought up the topic, "So, it seems I owe you a few dinners. How's tomorrow night look?"

"Sounds wonderful."

"I won't be able to get _La Fleur Bleu_ on such short notice…"

Chloe giggled, "Wherever, Clark. I'd prefer a hot dog with you over _La Fleur Bleu_ with anyone else, even though I'd trust a trained chimp to know more about eating there than you."

Clark teased Chloe with a few monkey noises.

_LuthorCorp__ Tower_

"Mr. Luthor?" a low voice spoke to Lionel Luthor in his office.

"Yes, Billingsley?"

"I believe this is what Lex is trying to do." He handed the elder Luthor a file.

"Well, that does sound like Lex's thinking. I should have known he'd go with the soft plan. Proceed with Plan A."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

A/N: Well, eventually some sort of plot will emerge. I've gotten most the Chlarkiness out of my system. I know this one followed quickly in the heels of the last, but expect a slightly longer delay until Chapter 3. The idea fragments are still assembling themselves in my brain. 

By the way, if this were going to be filmed, I would not have anyone but Erica Durance playing Lois, because this is without a doubt _Smallville_!Lois.

(Sonriso) - Chlark smoochies! Blushing!Chloe! Trained chimp references! The ominous sounding… Plan A! What more could you ask for?

©2005 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Monday, December 12, 2005. Updated Wednesday, December 14, 2005.


	3. Symbol

Chronos: Symbol  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Supernatural, Romance  
Rating: T for violence  
Language: English  
Summery: A post-Lexmas and a Godeerc the Mystic story. Plan A comes to fruition.  
Spoilers: Lexmas.

A/N: I should not have watched Chlarky music videos before I wrote this, but I did, because it inspires me to write. This is dedicated to Knightcrusader, who reminded me that I'd been procrastinating for six months.

By the way, Chlarkers, who else _loved_ that Season 5 finale scene?

* * *

Chapter 3: Symbol 

_January 5, 2013 _

The sun shone over the large playground in Wellings Park. Lex watched as his 4-year-old son, Alexander Luther, Jr., played a rousing game of tag with some new playmates that he had just made. He couldn't help but smile.

"Little guy's as active as ever, I see," came a familiar feminine voice behind Lex. It was the last voice Lex expected to hear.

"Chloe," Lex said as the blond woman sat down beside him, "what a surprise…" He held his mouth open, as if to say something else but couldn't.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here," Chloe predicted. Lex gave her an affirming look. "Listen, Lex, we're friends. I'm not saying it's not going to be hard, and part of me thinks that it's not going to work, but what kind of person would I be if I didn't?"

"The kind of person that betrays their friends when the going gets tough?"

"Well, tact has never been your strong point."

Lex smiled. "I get that from my father." Lex watched Alex for a moment, and pointed him out to Chloe. "It's amazing, Alex has spent four hours with his grandfather in the last week. It's the first time he's ever met him. Now we've always known Alex had a Type A personality, but look what a little time with Lionel Luthor had done to him already."

Chloe watched as a dozen kids listened to Alex giving directions on a new game. The group then proceeded to play a version of Red Light, Green Light involving tag, with Alex as the ringleader.

Lex said ironically, "I think my father is making up for lost time, where he could use his infant brainwashing techniques."

"Lex, if you're so afraid of your father's influence, why are you at LuthorCorp?"

"As strange as this may sound, it feels like home. I'm not going to lie to you and say that I didn't enjoy the life with Lana, but I felt like I was acting out a part. I loved the part, but when I'm working at LuthorCorp, it's like something inside of me takes over, and it feels incredible."

Chloe commented, "I think Napoleon Bonaparte might have described The Battle of Austerlitz in a similar manner."

"Or Alexander the Great and the Battle of Issus. Or Hitler and the Invasion of France. Or Genghis Khan and the conquering of Kiev. Or George Washington and the Battle of Trenton. Or Julius Caesar and the Gallic Wars. You can't beat me at this game, Chloe."

"I get it, Lex. I'm just saying…"

"I know, and I appreciate the concern. You're a true friend."

"And, Lex, thanks for just hiring the best writer at my place of work's rival company to attempt to debase my greatest work and my journalistic integrity in general, instead of, you know, hiring a sniper to assassinate me."

Chloe suddenly lunged forward, struggling for breath, and holding her the left side of her midsection as the fabric around her hand turned blood red. Taking strength from her depleting life force, she screamed out, " Clark!" She ignored the gust of wind that surrounded her. Lex, who was at her side immediately, didn't even notice it. He pulled off his jacket and pressed it to her would, and called 911 on his cell phone with his blood-covered hand.

It was only minutes later when paramedics had Chloe on a stretcher, an oxygen mask on her face, and bandages on the now exposed gunshot wound.

"Clark…" she whined in a daze.

One of the paramedics stated to Lex, "You're obviously not Clark, Mr. Luthor."

Lex didn't know what to think of the fact his notoriety had already returned. "Clark Kent. Her boyfriend. He works at the _Planet_."

"Is he her next of kin?"

Lex's mind raced. "No, her father's still alive. Gabe Sullivan. He used to work for me, but it's been years." He thought harder. "I know how to get in touch with Clark though, and he'll want to know. I can promise you that." He wrote the phone number on a business card and handed it to the paramedic.

"Mike!" cried the other paramedic. "She ain't doin' so good. We gotta get her to the hospital _now_!"

Across the street from where Lex was standing, there was suddenly a loud scream, a crash, and then a cacophony of honking cars, and Lex turned to see a small crowd gathered around something on the sidewalk.

_Moments earlier… _

Clark appeared on the roof of the three-story building overlooking Wellings Park with only the rustle of the wind. In the corner, a lanky man with five days worth of thick stubble was skillfully dissembling a rifle. Clark was dressed in a skintight dove-white jumpsuit that covered him from the neck down. On his chest was the prominent House of El symbol: a symmetric, scalene pentagon with a vertical figure-eight inscribed within it.

"You picked the wrong target," Clark stated through gritted teeth. The man turned around only to have Clark take him by the shoulder, and throw him, _hard_, against the wall of the stair entrance. Clark didn't need to use his x-ray vision to know that the bones in the shooter's shoulder were shattered. The man, disoriented, tried to run, but Clark sped in front of him, picked him up, and dangled him over the edge of the building.

Through the pain, the man screamed in a heavy Eastern European accent, "You wouldn't! You're supposed to be a superhero!"

"Don't test me. Just tell me who hired you."

The man scrambled for something in his pocket with his good hand and pulled out a grey, metal sphere. Clark transferred his hand to the man's collar and took the ball from his hand and crushing it. The exterior cracked and the ominous green light scolded Clark for his recklessness. As his skin turned sickly green and the veins of his hands pounded in protest, Clark fell forward, the sniper still in hand, off the roof of the building.

The sniper screamed, but Clark remained half-conscious as both plummeted to the ground.

The sniper landed with his back on the curb with an ominous _crack_. Blood pooled around his head, into the street and onto the sidewalk. Clark landed hard on his back, too, hitting the sidewalk very close to where the sniper, his head facing the wall of the building. Blood pooled around him, too, but his groans spoke of his survival. The glowing green rock rolled into the street, where it remained a few feet from Clark until a swerving car knocked it down a storm drain.

Instantly, Clark felt rejuvenation. His strength returned within a matter of moments. He stood up, and held his aching head, then pulling a piece of lead out of the back of his neck. He winced as the bones in his back realigned and recast themselves, and the cuts on his body healed as if time were moving in reverse. He looked at the pool of blood by his feet, seeing the dead sniper. He turned, seeing the gathering crowd, his face in panic. He saw some police rush over from where Chloe's ambulance was parked.

He stooped slightly, turning his head away from the crowd. The entire back of his suit was stained with blood. He suddenly launched himself up into the air, leaving cracks in the sidewalk in a five-foot radius.

The crowd muttered, and one person in the crowd pulled out a small notebook. This brown-haired man was Marshall Heath, star reporter of the _Metropolis Star_.

_Metropolis General__ Hospital_

The last place Clark wanted to be at was Metropolis General Hospital. His highly developed sense of smell picked up a multitude of odors, strongest among them ethyl alcohol. Clark's face was blank as he waited in line for the receptionist behind some guy in squeaky tennis shoes asking about his daughter, who apparently was being treated for alcohol poisoning. Clark walked up to the receptionist. "Yes, I'm here to see Chloe Sullivan. She's being treated for a gunshot wound."

"And, your relation to Miss Sullivan?"

Clark was momentarily speechless. A male voice told the receptionist from behind, "Don't hassle the boy. Let 'im in."

Clark looked up to see the smiling face of Gabe Sullivan.

In the hallway, Clark mentioned to Gabe, "You're smiling; must mean good news."

"Chloe was really lucky. Now I'm a factory manager, so don't expect me to get all this medical jargon right, but the bullet missed her lung. There was some, uh, internal bleeding in her large intestines, but that was quickly taken care of. They say she cried you name a lot during her less lucid moments." Clark tried not to blush. "So, I figure things are still going well after… well, New Year's?"

"Yeah. It's, um, …" Clark struggled to find words for it.

"Don't kill yourself, Clark. My daughter's been enamored with you since the day we set foot in Smallville. I'd almost given up on grandkids." Clark paled. Gabe sighed. "That didn't quite come out like I wanted. What I mean is…" He stopped, and started over, "Chloe's happy… in a way that she hasn't been in a very long time. If it were anyone else, I'd threaten you not to hurt my baby girl. I ought to anyway, but I'd feel bad because it seems like you're always blaming yourself for everything anyway. Truth is, Clark… you're a good man."

Clark didn't know how to respond.

Gabe wrapped his arm around Clark's shoulder, which wasn't easy given Clark's height, "You know, I like to think there's hope for Kansas now that the man who raised you is in the State Senate."

"Thanks. But, you know, Dad kind of misses the cows."

The older man laughed heartily. "Yeah, I knew how much he hated to have to sell the farm when he was elected. I'm glad he kept the farmhouse though. The Christmas parties are the best."

Clark scoffed lightly. "Mom won't leave it. She also wouldn't let him sell the barn until I graduated from college. Wanted me to have the loft until I got a place of my own."

"Funny you mention your loft. It was one of Chloe's favorite places to go. Scared me to death that she wanted to hang out in a teenage boy's private space so much…" Clark chuckled. Gabe Sullivan stopped in front of Chloe's room. "I'll let you have a moment."

Clark's worry, which had dissipated during his chat with Gabe, now returned full force. He knew Chloe was recovering well, but seeing Chloe in a hospital bed hurt worse than kryptonite.

Chloe turned her head as Clark ambled in, smiling. "Hey, you."

Taking a breath Clark started, "Hi. I'm, uh—"

Chloe cut him off. "Clark Kent, if the next words that come of your mouth are an apology, I _will_ ask the nurse to get me my belongings and I _will_ hit you hard enough with my K-ring to break your jaw."

Clark kneeled by her bed. A pained expression came over his face as he admitted, "I killed him."

Chloe's eyes widened in shock. " Clark, tell me you didn't. Not because of me."

"It was an accident. Now I was harsher than I should have been throwing him around, but…" He paused before continuing, "He had kryptonite. We both fell off the building."

"Kryptonite? How?"

"I don't know how he had it, or even how he knew to pull it out. He must not have know what it would do, 'cause he pulled it out while I was dangling him off the edge of the building."

"Wait, are you alright? Did you fall off, too?"

"Yeah, and I landed pretty hard. Probably broke a few bones and gave myself a concussion before the kryptonite fell into the sewers. I'm good now. The shooter's another story." Clark swallowed with difficulty.

Chloe reached her hand out and held his face. "Hey, then it wasn't your fault." She artificially heightened her tone, "So, it looks like I won't be starting back at the _Planet_ on Monday after all. I bet Perry's beside himself. Which reminds me, have you talked to him about…?"

Clark looked away. "No…"

"Clark," she nagged.

Clark would have answered, but there was a knock from the door. There was a woman waiting outside; she was tall, five-foot-nine, with short-cropped blond hair and bright blue eyes. She walked in, "Maggie Sawyer, Metropolis PD, but of course, you two already know that." She smirked, "I thought you'd want to know about the shooter. We matched ballistics."

Clark flashed Chloe a look and asked Detective Sawyer, "Did you catch him?"

"Catch him? We didn't need to. He's dead. We found him on splattered on the sidewalk across the street from the park. It appears Metropolis's resident superhuman vigilante threw him off a building."

Chloe, playing along, said, "I find that hard to believe. I know him personally, and he's not the type to just throw someone off a building. Weren't there witnesses?" _Perfect reporter question… _

"Yes, but these same witnesses claim that they also the man in white fall off the building and start bleeding. Mind telling me how a man who can fly and catch bullets fell off a three story building and hurt himself? These same witnesses then claimed he got up and flew off. They showed me a dent in the sidewalk as 'proof.'"

Clark reasoned, "Do we know who the sniper was or who hired him?"

"We identified him as Latvian mercenary killer Andrejs Kohut. Do you know anyone who might want to kill Miss Sullivan?"

"Lionel Luthor," the two said in unison.

"He's tried it before," Chloe added.

"We're investigating both Luthors as we speak. Lex is cooperating. Lionel is giving us the runaround." The words rang hollow as if it had been said many a time.

Chloe commented, "That isn't the least bit surprising."

Clark timidly said, "If I may vouch for Lex. I don't think it's him. He just doesn't do stuff like this."

Chloe added, "And even though he is going back to work for LuthorCorp, it wouldn't be some show of loyalty. He's already hired Marshall Heath from the _Star_ to write a rebuttal to my book."

"We're investigated Lex because it's standard procedure to investigate first at the scene. Mr. Kent, for someone who has an unusual knack for remembering obscure facts, your brain seems to be a little butterfingered about police procedures." She let out a sigh before continuing. "In recent years, you've gotten better at not getting yourself involved in police matters outside a journalistic duty. I don't want you having a relapse of that good decision-making, okay?" Det. Sawyer was about to turn and leave when her brow furrowing, and she asked, "Wait, Marshall Heath?"

"Yeah…" Chloe replied.

"We had a Marshall Heath at the scene as a primary witness. He's the one who said the man in white threw the man off the building." Clark and Chloe exchanged bemused glances. "Listen," Det. Sawyer said, unable to decipher the looks Clark and Chloe were sharing, "I've got an investigation to proceed with. I'm sure you two would like a few minutes alone. Oh, by the way," she said, through the doorway, "I loved the article in _The Inquisitor_ the other day." And with that, she was gone.

After a brief silence, Chloe started to fumble with her IV tubes, and meekly asked, " Clark, you wanna move in with me?"

Clark was taken aback, "Chloe, we've been dating less than a week."

"Not that kind of moving-in thing. People usually wait until there in a certain stage of their relationship before doing that."

Clark paused for a moment to decipher her meaning, and blushed. "I'm sleeping on the couch?"

"Damn right. Listen, I know you're gonna be hovering over me anyway—and not literally, please—you might as well be sleeping in the next room."

"I don't have a problem with that. It's just the mattress on the couch isn't the best."

"Haven't you heard? Lois got it replaced for me. You might as well be sleeping in my bed." Hearing her own words, Chloe blushed, "Oh, brother, your awkwardness is rubbing off on me. Way to go, Kent."

_January 12, 2013 _

Clark turned off Route 400 onto Silas Road toward Smallville. Chloe sat back in the seat, listening to Clark, a smile on her face indicative of the painkillers she was on. She also had a notebook in front of her that she was scribbling on.

Chloe giggled, "So, bleach didn't work at all?"

Clark sighed. "I don't know if it's the Kryptonian fabric or the Kryptonian blood, but the stains won't come out."

"So, that's why you're dragging me to Smallville with you?"

"Dragging you? You begged me to let you to come."

"I couldn't stand to be cooped up in my apartment any longer."

"You moved back in yesterday."

"Before that, I was cooped up in the hospital for a week! I was about to die of boredom."

"I brought you in a laptop and snuck your cell into your room. You've been working the entire time."

"With a Cable modem. How ancient is that?"

"We could have plugged you into the phone line. We're talking 56K there."

Chloe covered her ears. "Ah! I'm not listening." Chloe turned back to her notebook. "Plus, aren't I garnering you a lot of praise from Perry 'cause I'm helping you out with your S.T.A.R. article?"

"Point taken."

Chloe brushed her hair out of her face again. "So, again, why Smallville?"

"The man in white has been out of commission for seven days now. Metropolis needs a hero. And I'd like a disguise that can withstand the elements. And for that I need to get some more Kryptonian fabric. And for that, I need to go back to the Fortress of Solitude. And for that…"

"…you need the Kawatche caves." Chloe finished as she scribbled on a sheet of paper.

"Yep. What're you drawing?"

"How do you know I'm drawing? I could be working on an article."

"Because you've never used anything but a word processor to write down _anything_, save grocery lists, in years." Adopting an even more demeaning tone, he added, "And when people write, they usually move their pencils in minute motions going back and forth across the page. You're obviously drawing large, smooth lines across the entire area of the paper." He turned to look at what she was drawing but she held the notebook to her chest.

"No lookies, Mr. Perfect-Peripheral-Vision, and don't you even think about squinting."

"Yeah, especially since it's very difficult to use my x-ray vision to see the back of something. Plus, do you really want me using my vision anywhere near where you're holding that?"

Chloe emitted a playful scoff. "Sometimes, Clark Kent, it amazes me how moral you were raised. Are you telling me you only cop looks when you're on the red stuff?"

"It's funny you mention red," Clark comments with a coy look.

_Kent Farmhouse  
Smallville__, Kansas_

Peeling off one of Martha Kent's winter coats, Chloe joked, "I tell you, that icicle kingdom of yours has enough nooks and crannies." Martha handled her a cup of hot chocolate. "Thanks, Mrs. Kent."

"Chloe, please, call me Martha. You're practically family." Lowering her voice, she added, "'Course, before too long…"

In an equally hushed voice, Chloe replied, "Talk about counting your chickens before they hatch!"

Refining her accent, Martha replied, "Was that a farm analogy? I hardly understand those anymore."

Chloe smirked.

Walking into the kitchen, Clark rolled his eyes. "You two do realize that my super-hearing picks up your voices instinctively?"

Martha picked up the sleek, white blanket of cloth that Clark and Chloe brought back from the Fortress of Solitude. "Now, Clark, I'd be glad to make you another costume, but I'm having doubts about if I can." She pulled out a pair of scissors from the drawer and attempted to cut the fabric, only to have one of the blades break off. Clark caught the flying blade in his hand.

Chloe spun towards Martha on the stool she was sitting on. "May I suggest our lovely green rings?"

"Could work," Martha considered it. She tossed her son the broken scissors, and he used his heat vision to repair the blade. Turning back to Chloe, Martha inquired, "Would you like to help, Chloe?"

"Yeah, I'm not as domestically inclined as you, but I do have a couple of ideas I want to throw at you." She reached down and pulled her notebook from her backpack.

Clark replaced the scissors in the drawer. "So, that's what you were doodling."

Chloe was a writer, not an artist, but the figure on the page was at least recognizable as human. To Clark's relief, she didn't attempt a sketch of his face. Chloe had even zigzag-colored her figure in pen. Most of the costume was blue. "You've always looked good in blue," Chloe added.

Clark looked uncomfortable at the comment despite the fact he realized she was allowed to make comments like that. "What's on my back?"

"It's a cape." Chloe pointed toward the cape, penned in red, which flowed behind the body of her figure.

Clark turned his head. "That's kind of cliché, don't you think?"

"I think it's symbolic."

"It's a lot of color. Blue… red…"

"Clark, you have to admit that your old costume was a bit… minimalist. Maybe some color or design would do you good."

Martha pointed towards the gap near the center of the chest of Chloe's drawing. "What's supposed to go here?"

"I haven't decided. Clark had his House of El symbol there on the old costume. Maybe that… maybe something…" Chloe trailed off, staring across the kitchen, causing Clark and Martha to turn their heads toward where Chloe was looking: at the desk in the kitchen. Chloe hopped out of her seat and retrieved a metal sculpture: a shapely 'S' atop of a metal base. "Me likes…" Chloe mumbled.

"One of my shop class projects?"

"Jonathan uses it as a paperweight," Martha added.

Chloe grabbed a ruler from the drawer, and carrying both objects in her hand, laid them on the table, and then flipped to a new page in her notebook. She started to talk why she started to work energetically. "Know I don't know if this was intentional…" She laid the 'S' sideways on the page and started to draw lines around it with the ruler. "…but, I think if we played with the lines just a tad…" She removed the metal project and finished her design. "I think this would fit fairly well in…" She held up her work, showing the 'S' traced inside of a pentagon which had a very similar shape to the House of El Symbol.

Clark and Martha were silent, but exchanged impressed glances.

_January 17, 2013 _

Winter was the windy season in Metropolis. For Clark, soaring above the buildings, this meant nothing against his durable skin and powerful body heat, though now it created a crackling noise due to the scarlet red cape flowing from his shoulders. Contrasting brightly with the blue bodysuit, Chloe's design was situated on his chest: the red 'S' on the white background within the outline of a red pentagon. She and Martha had also added some knee-high red boots. He knew the colors were permanent, if his old suit was any proof.

Clark arrived at the destination he was seeking: LuthorCorp headquarters. He glided gently down to the roof and easily accessed the stairway through the locked door. On the fourteenth floor, he sped through the hallways, glancing briefly at each of the security cameras which would record at the most a blur as proof of his presence. He stopped against the wall facing Lionel's Luthor's office, noting that the security cameras recorded the door rather than his side of the hallway. Hearing nobody inside, the raced in.

He didn't expect to collapse to the ground mid-stride in the middle of the room. The momentum carried him to the desk, where he found himself in pain. As he reached his hand up toward the desk, feeling a burning sensation, he realized that the small gift-wrapped box on top of the table carried kryptonite.

Even without his super-hearing, he heard the voices in the hall and the door opening.

"Lex, my boy, I must say you're doing fine work in Smallville," Lionel Luthor stated as he strode briskly into the room. "As always, I expect better, but, son, I think you're really starting to get your life back on track."

Lex's insides burned at the implications of the comment, but he was in no mood to start an argument with his father, who had dragged him to Metropolis in the middle of some very important planning time with his plant managers.

"Lex, also, I noticed that you offered a job to Gabe Sullivan. Now, while I'm always glad to have one less competent worker at any of Wayne's subsidiaries, I'm a tad concerned with what the press will think, having the father of the author of that dreadful book of lies working for us."

Clark fumed from behind one of the art deco cabinets that he had barely reached before the Luthors entered the elder of the two's office. Lex quipped, "For a book of lies, LuthorCorp sure seemed to have purchased a lot of them. And," he added with false pensiveness, "who _did_ that memo come from warning all managers to hide any of the transgressions noted in _The Underground Monopoly_?"

"Lex, I will not tolerate such insubordination. Let us not forget whose fault that book was."

Lex just smiled insincerely. "Dad, I think we should thank Chloe Sullivan for her work. LuthorCorp prides itself on such values as safety and honesty. I, for one, am relieved that the completely accidental fire at the publishing house where her book was being printed was quickly put out. It was very lucky that a random pedestrian happened to be walking by at three in the morning." Lionel chose to ignore the sarcasm in Lex's voice.

"As am I, Lex." Lionel noticed the gift on his desk. "Aw, of course. Lex, this is for you. My VPs were so pleased with your return they had this prepared for you." Lionel handed his son the four-inch cube wrapped in striped black and silver wrapping paper. Lex removed the top to find a silver watch, the face surrounded by a glowing, jeweled green ring. Lionel smiled and stated, "They had it specially made. That green ring is made from the meteor rock found in Smallville. It turns out that it's naturally luminescent when a small electrical current is run through it."

"It's great, Dad." Lex moved his own watch to his pocket and tried on the silver one. He looked up at his father. "Is there anything else you need? Because we're both very busy men."

"No, Lex, that will be all. Keep up the good work, son." With a sincere smile, he patted his son's shoulder.

Clark breathed a sigh of relief as Lex and the kryptonite watch left, feeling his strength return to normal. This turned out to be a bad idea, because, as always happened after he recovered from kryptonite, he had trouble controlling his powers, and his breath knocked over a statuette on the far side of the room.

"Who's there?" Lionel called, seconds before he felt a passing rush of wind. He then looked thoughtfully at his desk, at the place where Lex's gift used to be and then to the security cameras hidden above the door.

Clark wasn't out of the building when he heard an alarm sound. Stooping in a dark corner, he started to scan the building using his X-ray vision. The running action of one skeleton being pursued by two others was easy to pick up. Telescoping his vision, he zoomed in on the figure. By shifting to the visual spectrum, the identity of the intruder became clear. It was Lois. And the figures behind her were guards.

Seconds later, Clark looked at the two guards slumped on the ground. Chloe had given the name "love taps" to the flicks on the neck that Clark used to incapacitate people.

"Hey, I could have taken them!" Lois cried incredulously.

"They have guns. You're not bulletproof."

"And you are?" Lois cursed her impetuousness as soon as the words came out of her mouth. She ignored the superhero's proud smirk.

"Let's get you out of here."

It was a short ride back to the Daily Planet's roof, being almost across the street from LuthorCorp. Clark could have easily made it in milliseconds had he not had a passenger, but he was sure Lois appreciated not being warped sped through the chilly January air.

"Well, thanks… I guess White Knight doesn't really suit you anymore."

"I never really like the name anyway," Clark replied with confidence. He had taken several Drama classes at Metropolis University, and he learned to transition into a new persona when acting as the superhero.

"Anyway, I like the new look. Blue suits you." Lois smiled flirtatiously. After their third date, the personal trainer had stopped calling.

"Thanks." He could have sworn Lois was flirting with him.

"So, anyway, Clark and Chloe have really hit it off."

Clark tried not to blush, "I'm happy for them."

In reality, Clark was just caught off-guard, but all the same Lois noticed something, "You know, under that strong exterior, I think you're kind of lonely." She stepped closer.

Clark finally caught on to Lois's ministrations. "Lois, I'm flattered really, but… you do realize I'm not human?" He felt a little hypocritical, but he couldn't figure out any other way out of this conversation.

"Well, obviously. But, you're still a pretty attractive not-human." Lois replied. She looked him up and down before a look of realization appeared on her face. "Oh, I get it. That could be a problem for me." Lois coughed. "Listen, we can just forget we ever had this conversation. There're plenty of fish in the sea. Some of them have all their fins. Catch you later… what should we call you now?"

"I'm just a man trying to help out a city."

"You're one super man, handsome." She winked as Clark leapt into the air.

_9:14 PM_

Marshall Heath sat at his desk at the _Metropolis Star_. In front of him was his computer, opened to a black word processor page. To his right was a copy of _The Underground Monopoly_, open to the end of the first chapter. He drummed his fingers on the desk for a few seconds before he moved his hands to float about the keyboard, typing:

**Writing an Underground Libel  
A Response to _The Underground Monopoly _**

* * *

A/N: Back in Chapter 1, I named Lex and Lana's baby Lillian. I just read the recap of the episode and it turns out they _did_ name her Lily. I'm developing psychic powers. 

(Sonriso) - Let me at this Marshal Heath guy. He won't know what hit 'im. No one messes with my LongHair!Chloe.

©2006 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Monday, December 12, 2005. Finished Thursday, July 6, 2006.


	4. Future

Chronos: Future  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville_  
Genre: Supernatural, Romance  
Rating: K+  
Language: English  
Summery: A post-Lexmas and a Godeerc the Mystic story. Clark accepts his destiny. Chloe embraces hers. Lex succumbs to his own.  
Spoilers: Lexmas. But less and less so with each chapter. This one is practically an AU Futurefic.

A/N: This is it. This is the last chapter. While this had the potential to be a rather lengthy series, and I don't quite have the inspiration for more than these four chapters. I hope you have enjoyed these adventures so far, and hope you enjoyed what's to come. By the way, this chapter was originally titled "Destiny;" I thought "Future" was better.

* * *

Chapter 4: Future 

_January 18, 2013 _

Lionel Luthor sat in the silence of his office, looking at a security video on his laptop. One frame showed a blur outside his office. Another camera captured a similar blur, which changed into a man skidding across the carpet in his office, but as the camera was facing the desk, Lionel only saw from behind. A third camera recorded the weakened superhero crawling behind a file cabinet, but his face was in the shadow the entire time the second camera showed Lex and himself speaking. Suddenly the figure sped off.

Lionel rewound the video many times, slowing it down, trying to find that one instant when the hiding superhero came out of the shadows just before accelerating to inhuman speeds. It seemed to never come.

- - -

_January 20, 2013 _

Chloe looked up from the newspaper into her living room, noting that the sofa bed, which was a mess of sheets two seconds ago, was now flawlessly made. Clark surveyed his work with a smile. Smirking, his roommate commented, "You do realize that _I_ haven't even made _my_ bed yet." She looked down at the newspaper again, opening up the _Galaxy_. With a perplexed look on her face, she commented, "You made the paper."

"That's nothing new," Clark responded, and half a second later, he was wearing jeans and a blue turtleneck in place of his flannel pajama set.

Chloe brushed the hair out of her face, caused by Clark's high-speed antics. "Yeah, but you don't usually grant interviews."

Clark adopted Chloe's perplexed look. "I don't." He walked over to the counter where Chloe stood, commenting, "Plus, if I ever did, there's only one reporter I would trust with my story." He pressed his forehead against Chloe's.

Chloe smiled and kissed him. "Or her cousin?" She pulled away and showed him the article: "A Chat with the Super-Man" by Lois Lane.

Lowering his eyebrows, his pupils became a blur. And an instant later, he stated, "That wasn't an interview. Lois almost got caught in the LuthorCorp building, trying to get proof that Lionel tried to assassinate you. She got herself in danger—it's genetic, I suppose." This earned him a pinch on the shoulder by Chloe. Not feeling any pain, he continued with a voice full of mock indignation, "So I had to swoop in to save the day. We had a little chat on the rooftop."

Chloe skimmed the article. "She calls you 'lonely' and… I'm getting the impression… did she flirt with you?"

Clark's face reddened, "Yeah." The change in Chloe's body language was well-hidden, but Clark's heightened senses pick up on it. "Chloe, I blew her off. The article even says so. C'mon, it's _Lois_."

"You said you weren't human."

Clark resigned. "I had to say something."

"But that you had nothing downstairs?"

"What?" Clark's face was nothing if not perplexed.

Chloe paused then started to laugh uncontrollably. "Oh, Clark… well, whatever lets me keep you all to myself."

Still clueless, Clark picked up the newspaper. "She's naming me the 'Super-Man'?" He cringed.

Chloe caught his expression. "Oh, it's not that creative. I'm sure it won't catch on."

- - -

"This is preposterous!" Chloe screeched.

Clark, sitting in a borrowed chair in front of Chloe's desk, rubbed his sensitive ears. Because it was no secret—to the entire city in fact—that Clark and Chloe were dating, Perry White was forced to split the two up. So he moved Clark closer to the window, three desks over from Chloe, facing opposite directions. While they were no longer allowed "in the field" together, Perry saw no problem with having them work on the same articles… it would be a crime to journalism in his eyes not to let them make the _Daily Planet_ the best newspaper in America.

Perry had already started to look for a wedding present for the two, not because he was a hundred percent sure that they were heading that direction, nor because he thought Clark would propose anytime soon, but rather because he was horrible at buying gifts, so he thought he could get a head start. If not, he'd put it in his cabinet for emergencies: forgotten anniversaries, forgotten birthdays, forgotten births, forgotten praise… In fact, as he approached Chloe's desk, what kind of gift she would like was what was running through his head.

Exasperated, Chloe continued, "This Marshall Heath guy doesn't make a single point. It's all subversive. He uses pretty language and bad logic to undermine an ignorant public."

"Sorry, sweetcakes, but that's what the newspaper business is all about," Perry joked as he grabbed a secretary's chair. Or maybe it was an administrative assistant's; Perry didn't know the difference, or even if there was one; he enough to worry about—buying gifts, for example—without political correctness filling his worry jar.

Chloe smirked appreciatively. "It's just… I'm afraid this is going to hurt sales." She saw Perry start to adopt a look of sincere pretend concern, so she cut him off. "I'd hate to have it sully my name and have the _Planet_ suffer." Perry then adopted the look of genuine concern.

"Listen, kid, don't you worry about this. I'll get someone in Arts & Styles to write a rebuke. I bet Cat Grant wouldn't do too bad of a job."

Chloe rolled her eyes and sighed. "Let me talk to her about it. She talented enough to do it right, but… she spends too much time in doing fashion bios, and well…" Chloe didn't finish. "Perry, we're purists; you know what I'm saying." And Perry truly did.

- - -

_April 25, 2013 _

Chloe dropped Clark's hand to read the newspaper. While she felt she could spend the rest of her life just strolling down sidewalks hand-in-hand with Clark, she had other passions, one of them being the newspaper she held in her hand.

"'Superman Saves Reeve Orphanage From Fire'. You didn't even make the front page."

"I could care less. But Lois just _had_ to make the connection that 'S' could stand for 'Superman.' It stood for Smallville."

Tilting her head back and forth lithely, she replied, unable to suppress a playful smile, "Which she calls you by the way. You are still with the secret identity program, right?"

"You're the one talking to the mild-mannered reporter as if he was Superman."

"This is Metropolis. No one pays attention to anyone else walking across the street. Just one question…" Chloe paused dramatically. "Which one's the secret identity?" She played it off as a joke, but her eyes betrayed her true intention.

Clark, who had quickly learned to read gestures since dating the expressive Chloe, paused before answered. With failing humor, he responded, "You're never gonna get over _Lois_ beating _you_ to the first Superman interview."

He hadn't answered her question. Sharply, she replied, "Never. Did you hear that Perry asked her for a piece of investigative work to see if she was cut out to 'work with her cousin'?" Her voice was still raw, but for the moment, she allowed the distraction.

Clark's voice became more upbeat. "Yeah, as I recall, she tried to break into LuthorCorp… _again_. And the 'Man of Steel' had to save her… _again_." With annoyance, he added, "Must she come up with a new nickname for me _every_ time I save her?"

Chloe's face always betrayed her emotions, except to Clark, but now it seemed like even Clark was catching on. "That's Lois for ya, Smallville. So, who am I dating, the man or the secret identity?" She asked it flatly.

Clark took a while to formulate his words. "There's the reporter at the _Daily Planet_. And then there's Metropolis's resident superhero. No one knows that Clark Kent can move mountains. No one knows that Superman is the son of a produce farmer. Chloe, both are the secret identity."

Satisfied, Chloe's snark quotient tripled. "That would make such a good quote. Dammit if I can never use it. So, if both are secret identities, does anyone actually know you?"

"You," he answered immediately and with unquestionable sincerity. He let the word hang for a long time. "Mom and Dad. Pete." Chloe could only nod as she kept walking. Clark stopped and laced his fingers through Chloe's arms. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me, you know that?"

She spun to face him. "No, I'm not. But I try really hard."

- - -

_April 26, 2013 _

The room with the metallic walls and the harsh overhead lighting gave the perfect monotone setting for the man in the black suit and the man in the white lab coat. Lex Luthor held the computer printout in his hand.

"EPA's gonna have my ass for this."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, we put in the best filters money could by, but you knew what the pH levels on these chemicals were."

Dropping the printout, Lex rested his hands on the raising overlooking a vat of bluish liquid. "Wanna tell me how the production of a chemical spray whose express purpose is to weaken structural stability and cause no adverse affect on biological organisms can create such toxic biproducts?"

From behind him, the man with a bowl cut of shiny black hair and thick glasses, replied, "I don't suppose you're looking for a yin-yang, balance-of-nature explanation, Mr. Luthor."

Lex smirked and he turned around, "Dr. Milo, you humor me. What kind of environmental effects are we looking at?"

Dr. Milo shrugged his shoulders. "The stream isn't a drinking water source. But this stuff'll kill anything in the water from here to Morley Lake. Not to mention if this stuff gets into the water table, you're looking at poisoning and killing hundreds of acres of forestland."

"Get a sample and send it to LuthorCorp Labs. See if they can get working on a neutralizer. I thought this meteor rock stuff wasn't toxic."

"It's volatile. Every time we try something new to it, it gives us new surprises. You of all people should know that."

Lex pursed his lips.

- - -

_April 29, 2013 _

Clark's plan to stay fifty feet from Lex wasn't working out so well, seeing that he was flat on his back on the helicopter pad on top of LuthorCorp's Smallville plant, with the bald man choking him using the arm around which he wore the kryptonite-enhanced watch. Clark also planned on Chloe staying in the car where she was safe rather than ending up handcuffed to an antenna too far away to help, which was her current predicament.

Clark, even in his weakened state, was able to get a good punch in, which did nothing more than irritate Lex.

"Dammit, Superman, I was working on a solution! You didn't have to come in and wreck my waste disposal system! You've cost me millions!"

Through his teeth, Superman replied, "What about the city of Smallville? How much have you cost them? Have you looked around you?"

And looked Lex had. He saw the same devastation that Superman, the EPA agents, and most of Smallville had seen: sickly gray-green water with foam and fish floating on the surface, withered trees from the bank of the Elbow River to a quarter mile away, and the acid-ruined walls of the shut-down Smallville Dam.

Lex then noticed a softening in Clark's grimacing face, as if he were deep in thought. This quickly passed as an arm slowly rose. Lex quickly grabbed it with his kryptonite watch-laden arm and held it to the ground. "You know, you never do know when to quit, do you?" Lex's right fist collided with Superman's jaw, who retaliated by spitting Kryptonian blood in Lex's face.

Lex adjusted his legs to have better leverage. Superman was quickly weakening under the radiation of the watch, all the more ready for a good beating. Lex changed his battle plan when he felt something against his shin: a broken piece of piping, a relic from a few minutes earlier, one of Superman's missed punches.

"You know, you've been getting in my father's and my way for quite some time, for reasons I cannot fathom, which makes me think there _are_ no reasons for your vigilante escapades." He lifted the jagged pipe. "I think it's about time we ended that right now, freak."

"NO!" Chloe screeched. Lex smirked at her infidelity. The woman was obviously in love with the superhero, despite her relationship with Clark. Clark would be heartbroken. Not unlike Lex was after Lana's death. _How poetic. The end result of love is always the same: pain. _Lex would have no more of that. "It's a pity, Superman, with your power, we could've rule the world. Too bad you've proven yourself unworthy."

Lex raised the pipe with his left hand, wanting the kryptonite to be near Superman's heart when the pipe plunged through it. It never got the chance, as Lex's wrist was bent back forcefully another piece of pipe struck it with great force. Lex found himself thrown to the ground by Pete Ross, who looked at him with steely eyes. Clutching his injured wrist, he asked, "What the hell? What are you…?"

With an almost evil smirk, Pete replied, "It's quite simple, Luthor, while Clark was distracting you, Chloe made a quick call to me." Lex tilted his head, to see Chloe with a cell phone in her hand. His mind replayed back the last few minutes. She had been struggling with her handcuffs quite loudly… an obvious ruse.

Something still didin't make sense to him. "But… it's only been…"

"Three, four minutes? Lex, don't you remember where this plant was built? On top of my family's farm! My dad's farmhouse is 100 yards from here. I was in town visiting. You know, I'm kind of lucky that you were going off on your little mad scientist tirade just now. I had plenty of time to sneak up here and grab a weapon. Which reminds me…" Pete abruptly butted the pipe into Lex's sternum. While the other man gasped for breath, Pete removed his crushed watch, tearing skin that got caught in the mangled metal, evoking a shriek from Lex. Pete threw it over the side of the building, where it landed in a pool of green liquid, created by the damaged outflow pipes of the building. The corrosive liquid quickly began to burn through the shiny steel.

Lex didn't dare get up, as he saw a healed Superman doing just that.

"You were right about one thing, Mr. Luthor," Superman said, adopting an impersonal tone, "we could have been partners. It seems your own greed has made you… what was your choice of words? Unworthy." The blue-suited superhero walked off, mindlessly snapping off Chloe's handcuffs with one hand. The two shared a tender moment that didn't escape Lex.

As Superman grabbed the two friends around their backs and flew off, Lex pulled out his own cell phone. Without touching a button, he stated, "Security" into it, letting the GPS tracker inside of it bring the men to him. Two minutes later, as the paramedics attended to his wounds, he noticed one of them went to clean the blood of his forehead. Knowing he hadn't hurt his forehead he stopped them, touching his sticky brow bone, and realizing the source of the blood. "Save it," he ordered. The paramedic nodded and placed a wiping of it on sterile gaze in a plastic bag and handing it to Lex, who eyed it like it were made of solid gold.

- - -

No sooner than the three landed safely in the Rosses' backyard was Clark redressed in his civvies.

"Thanks for the save, Pete," Clark said, hugging his friend.

"Anytime, bro. Just glad I was conveniently in town."

Chloe interjected, "I do have to admit, it was very _deus ex machina _of you."

Pete snorted a laugh. "Hey, just 'cause I'm a lawyer now doesn't mean I speak fluent Latin."

"I rescind the compliment. I'm just saying that we were really lucky you were in town. What else would we have done?"

Pete smiled. "C'mon, Chloe, you're a big girl. You'd have thought of something."

"Hope you're not flirting with me, Ross."

With a coy smirk, Pete replied, "You're kidding? You obviously have not met the new paralegal in my office. Plus, the fact your current boyfriend lifts airplanes for sport."

Clark smirked, "For sport? Watch how quickly I save the 797 you're on the next time it has major engine trouble."

"Point taken, Hercules. C'mon inside. My dad just got a promotion and he'd be glad to take us all out to dinner."

Clark started to follow, but Chloe grabbed his arm. She commented to her friend, "Give us a second. We'll be right in."

Pete smiled knowingly, winked, and ran inside.

Clark's eyes met Chloe as she stated, "You almost died up there, Clark."

Clark quickly countered, his voice as grave as hers, "And just what were you doing up there?"

"Saving your buns of steel."

"Chloe, what I do is dangerous."

"That's _my_ point."

At a stalemate, they stopped and laughed humorously. Clark started, "This relationship's gonna kill us both. Literally and figuratively."

She took a step closer. "And if it doesn't?"

"We'll see what the future holds." His caressed her cheek as she pretended the gesture was corny.

- - -

_Metropolis__ International Airport_

_December 19, 2015 _

Clark's arms were wrapped tightly around Chloe's shoulders. More nervous than he, she held tightly to his hands with her own, her chin resting on both sets. She tensed up in his arms as the door opened to Gate 42 and people started filing out. She began to tap her foot anxiously as the crowds of people walked out with an obliviousness that annoyed Chloe to no end. She gasped suddenly and pointed to a small Chinese woman with a baby in her arms. "Do you think it's her?" Chloe's breath was airy as she spoke to Clark.

With much more ease, Clark replied, "We'll find out soon enough if it's… it's…" He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening. His nervousness soon matched Chloe's and he began to shake. Chloe squeezed tighter, if only to remind him what would happen if he started shaking in superspeed.

The woman made eye contact with Clark and Chloe, giving them no more time to process the situation as she softly said to them, "Mr. and Mrs. Kent?"

Chloe fingered the ring on her right hand nervously as she nodded speechlessly.

The woman smiled wide, "Well, then, my name is Jane Xiao, from Shaohannah's Hope. And _this_ sleepy bundle is Lana." The 18-month-old girl roused from her slumber and looked into Jane's eyes. Her black pigtails stuck straight out.

"Hey, _xiao gui_, I've got a surprise for you."

The girl shifted hurriedly in Jane's arms to look at Clark and Chloe, whose muscles seemed atrophied.

"Ma ma, ba ba?" she said cheerfully.

Jane nodded and stood Lana on the ground before Clark and Chloe, who immediately kneeled down, smiling and trying their best to breathe normally. Little Lana took a cautious step forward and grabbed a handful of Chloe's sweater in one and another handful of her hair in the other.

Chloe wrapped her hands around the little girl, picked her up, and tried to mouth several things before coming up with, "Hi."

Clark followed suit with a breathy "Hey."

Jane stepped forward and brushed back Lana's hair to whisper in the tiny girl's ear, "Remember the English I taught you?"

"Mommy," Lana proclaimed, and added, "Daddy." A tear fell down Chloe's cheek.

Lana's head was turning back and forth as Chloe carried her into the terminal, her eyes absorbing every detail of this alien world around her. While the Beijing Capital International Airport was a monument of smooth curves, the Metropolis airport was an edifice of sharp angles and straight lines. As Lana descended the escalator, one of her favorite things to do, she noticed a small group of people waving at her, or maybe it was her new mommy and daddy. At the bottom, Lana was at first caught in the middle of many hugs between her mommy and the new people who were waving at her before, but pretty soon her mommy tried her attention. Lana didn't want to a miss a moment.

"Lana, I'd like you to meet some people." Lana knew that her mommy didn't speak Mandarin, but she spoke very sweetly, so Lana forgave her, even though she was pronouncing her name with incorrect intonation. Lana watched as her mommy presented her to a man who was tall like her daddy, but had straw-colored hair and glasses. "This is your _ye ye_." Lana was very excited to meet the man she was pretty sure was her grandpa. Her mommy couldn't say Mandarin words right, but that's what _ye ye_ meant. Lana was then presented to a woman who was about her mommy's height and had bright red hair, which was so interesting to Lana, she just had to grab some of it.

"Hey, sweetie," said the woman with the beautiful colored hair.

"Lana, this is your _nai nai_."

_Grandma!_ Lana thought happily. Her hands were pried away from the coppery hair and she was introduced to a man who was shorter than her daddy and her _ye ye_, but still taller than her mommy and her _nai nai_. He had dark blond hair. "This," her mommy told her, "is your _lao ye_." Lana became very excited, because she was now meeting her _other_ grandpa. How marvelous was this day!

Lana was then shown another woman. She had beautiful brown hair, which was obviously perfect for grabbing. _What other purpose is there for hair?_ So, Lana grabbed it. Her mommy then said to her, "This is Lois. She's your, uh, well, I don't know what the word for her is, but you can call her Aunt Lois."

The brown-haired woman came close to Lana and whispered in her ear. "You make sure to tell your mommy and daddy that they're crazy if they think I'm going to babysit you, okay?" She pulled away and winked. Lana responded by pulling on her hair.

Most little girls think that their daddies are the strongest man in the world. As Lana was held by her daddy, she thought the same, and she was right.

- - -

_Metropolis General__ Hospital_

Lex Luthor sat patiently as Dr. Litvack removed the cast from his hand.

"Well, Lex, are you ready?"

Lex groaned and grimaced as he stared as his left hand; the skin was sickly green, and long scars marked his wrist and the lengths of his fingers. Crippled, wrinkled fingers, tipped with blackened fingernails, moved spastically. In a sudden movement, his hand clenched together into a fist. Lex looked amazed at the development. "You're a genius," Lex commented as he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hand.

"Well, of course I am. But this was easily. Move around a few muscles, a few more metal implants."

Lex slipped on a black leather glove over his diseased hand.

As Lex stepped out of the doctor's office, he was surprised to find his father waiting for him, leaning on a cane.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Lex, you had an important medical procedure done today. I thought it was only proper."

Lex started to walk down the hallway, "Where was this sentiment the last three times I had surgery?"

"Lex, I make it when I can."

Lex showed off his clenching hand. "You don't seem impressed."

"Lex, the first thing you did after you came out of the womb was clench your hand."

Lex stopped and turned to face Lionel, "Well, Dad, maybe I've been reborn."

Lionel smiled sincerely. "So true, my son."

As they reached the end of the hallway, Lex waited to have his personal items returned. The first item he pulled out was a shiny silver ring. Slipping it on his left hand, over his glove, he tapped the top, where three flaps opened to reveal a translucent green stone. With the flick of his wrist, the lead-lined sterling silver panels closed into a metal hemisphere. Lionel watched his son's actions, subconsciously fingering the tip of his cane, which featured a sterling silver knob with three radial seams.

- - -

The soul of Lillian Luthor watched as the scene faded around hers. She grimaced as she looked over toward Godeerc.

"So, it appears no matter what I do, Alexander is destined to follow in his father's footsteps."

"I don't know the answer to that, Lillian. All I know is there are a lot of forces working against your son. Now, my job is to examine the future, the what-will-be and the what-could-be, and in my experience, nothing is impossible. Though, certain things seemed destined to happen."

"Clark and Chloe?"

"Sometimes it seems inevitable. Sometimes it seems impossible."

"Is it even worth fighting for my Alexander's soul?"

"It worth everything, Lillian. We're only destined to do what we _did_, not what we will do. Clark, Chloe, and many others never gave up on trying to save Lex. It would be a shame if you didn't."

Lillian knew time was an illusion, but in that moment Godeerc just ceased to exist beside her. So she waited, somehow knowing that another chance to speak with her son would come soon.

* * *

A/N: I hope you've enjoyed this story. I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to complete, but every once in a while, a story just drains me, and this story did. I usually don't ask for reviews, as it seems tacky to do so, but I've recently began to faithfully constructively criticize ever story I can get through, and I invite you to do the same. 

By the way, Shaohannah's Hope is a real adoption foundation. "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me." Matthew 18:5. I invite you to check it out.

(Sonriso) - Hey, little Lana! My name's Sonriso and I'm your… what did you call it, Creedog? Oh, right, _sha zi_. Creedog says it describes me perfectly.

©2006 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Saturday, June 29, 2006. Finished Monday, July 17, 2006.


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